tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8605543741715166832019-01-20T23:25:19.237-05:00Live Cheap and Make Art USAThe Art, Life, and Adventures of Rosemary ConnellyRosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.comBlogger600125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-50313785904328875482019-01-01T07:18:00.000-05:002019-01-01T07:34:40.457-05:00Happy New Year 2019!
A page from my Cuba concertina sketchbook.
Today is the first day of the new year 2019. It's raining and windy outside and I am up early thinking about the year that has just passed. In the blink of an eye it seems. A year full of art, travel, family visits and good things. A year that included trips to Cuba, Miami Beach, Colorado, Milwaukee, Portugal and New York City. It also Rosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-78112985014584607142018-08-21T17:22:00.000-04:002018-08-21T17:22:01.132-04:00South Beach Sketchbook - February 2018Rosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-10499242359723974702018-08-21T17:09:00.001-04:002018-08-21T17:10:23.004-04:00South Beach, Miami
Art Deco South Beach
After spending a week in Cuba, and since I had to fly in and out of Miami anyway, I had planned to spend a few days in South Beach, sketching this historic Art Deco area and relaxing on the beach. The weather couldn't have been better, except for the rain on my first morning. But after that, the skies were a dazzling shade of blue and I sketched all day! I ate good food Rosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-53767910170141325562018-08-21T11:27:00.001-04:002018-08-22T09:04:21.608-04:00My Trip to Cuba - My Sketches
My Cuba Concertina Sketchbook
This was so much fun to do, building it with each day's experiences and trying to tie it all together for a cohesive whole! I hope you enjoy seeing it as much as I enjoyed doing it! If you would like to see my other sketchbook, I made a video that you can view by clicking on this link.
Rosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-12981805814894516862018-08-21T10:56:00.000-04:002018-08-21T10:56:47.006-04:00My Trip to Cuba - Day 6
Our last full day in Cuba was just that - FULL of so many experiences! We started the day early so we could have a lesson in the downtown. Jane had asked us to prepare a page in our sketchbooks with a wash of colors and then had us do a line drawing on top of the wash that produced the most interesting effects as you can see in the sketches above!
Following our time spent sketching we Rosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-52688803961609198152018-08-20T10:48:00.001-04:002018-08-20T11:03:14.612-04:00My Trip to Cuba - Day 5
Muraleando (Proyecto Cultural Muraleando) was my favorite of all the places we visited during my week in Cuba! A cultural center for the community that provides classes in all mediums...drawing, painting, ceramics, printmaking, music, filmmaking, and more, it started life as an on-the-ground water tank. Abandoned and turned into a garbage dump, it took a dedicated group of artists years toRosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-82311973971956735032018-08-20T09:42:00.001-04:002018-08-20T09:44:04.391-04:00My Trip to Cuba - Day 4
I am not a fan of tobacco, no matter the form, but Cuban cigars have a special allure. The sale of Cuban cigars is still illegal in the U.S.and with the current administration, not something likely to change any time soon. But, since tobacco is one of Cuba's main crops our tour naturally included a trip to a tobacco farm in the countryside. On the way, at a rest stop, I even got to pose with aRosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-66246367368744986162018-08-15T12:54:00.001-04:002018-08-15T13:07:16.780-04:00My trip to Cuba - Day 3
On day three we rode the bus out to Ernest Hemingway's house. He's a big deal in Cuba. In 1940 with his wife Martha, he purchased a home outside Havana, Cuba and lived there for the next twenty years. The Hemingways named the site Finca Vigia, or “lookout farm.” And true to its name, the views are magnificent. As is the property, and the lush gardens and exotic trees and plants that surroundRosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-64849625912539006352018-08-14T11:50:00.000-04:002018-08-14T12:05:33.610-04:00My Trip to Cuba - Day 2
Day Two in Cuba was again spent in Havana's downtown, asking tons of questions and learning about Cuban society from our tour guide. It is really hard to imagine how this works, where the government owns absolutely everything, where healthcare, rents and education are free yet so many live in what seems to be abject poverty in buildings that are crumbling around them. Our taxi driver had a Rosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-80785683385433481392018-08-12T05:21:00.000-04:002018-08-14T12:05:25.452-04:00My Trip to Cuba! - Day 1
On February 12, 2018, I arrived in Havana with 11 other artists who had signed up for a week in Cuba on an Arts and Cultural Tour with Jane LaFazio, an artist whose work I have long admired. I've wanted to go to Cuba for some time so this trip seemed the perfect way to study with Jane and see the country!
We met at a hotel in Miami and the following day boarded a flight for the short flight Rosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-24063984962574183452018-08-10T08:46:00.000-04:002018-08-10T08:46:37.781-04:00Return to Barcelona 2017! My Sketchbooks
I had a marvelous time sketching in Barcelona, going out with sketchbook and art supplies every day and trying to capture as much as I could of this beautiful city. By the end of my month-long trip, I had filled two 8x8 sketcbooks, and quite a few pages in the smaller 5x5. These are my souvenirs! I hope you enjoy looking at them and encourage you to click on the images to see whole thing and Rosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-47388469107306287632018-08-10T08:16:00.001-04:002018-08-10T08:16:43.221-04:00Return to Barcelona 2017! Gothic Quarter
Bari Gotic: "The centre of the Roman city, today's Gothic Quarter, was marked by the point where the two main streets, the Cardo and Decumanus, converged. Today the Carrer del Bisbe and Carrer Llibreteria stand on this site. Nearby, we can still see the remains of the Roman temple of Augustus. In fact, the original centre of Roman and medieval Barcelona still forms the core of Rosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-28725371043507790762018-08-09T19:08:00.001-04:002018-08-09T19:08:06.888-04:00Return to Barcelona 2017! Palau Guell
Another place I did not visit last year but very much wanted to, was Palau Guell, one of Antoni Gaudi's early works. It's located in the Raval district not far from Las Ramblas, but to be perfectly honest, I couldn't find it! But along with Helena, we managed to locate it and enjoyed the group tour we joined there. According to the site Barcelona.de ;
"Gaudí was commissioned in 1885 by Rosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-49753356181604523042018-08-09T18:36:00.000-04:002018-08-09T18:36:35.012-04:00Return to Barcelona 2017! Casa Amatller with Helena
You need to purchase tickets for a guided tour to visit the Casa Amatller, on the "Block of Discord" (Illa de la Discòrdia), next to the Casa Battlo, but completely different in architectural style! In 1898, the chocolatier/industrialist Antoni Amatller Costa (1851-1910), bought an estate on Paseo de Gracia in Barcelona, ​​consisting of a house on the ground floor and four floors and a gardenRosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-39647755863194167012018-08-09T13:16:00.001-04:002018-08-09T13:16:04.886-04:00Return to Barcelona 2017! Hospital Santa Creu i Sant PauOne of the important places in Barcelona I did not get to see last time was the Hospital Santa Creu i Sant Pau. "The Modernista Sant Pau Complex was built between 1905 and 1930 and designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner as a garden city for nursing the sick. After being used as a public hospital for a century, its newly refurbished pavilions shine again in all their splendour. A visit to this Rosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-86823621406319477742018-08-09T12:16:00.001-04:002018-08-09T12:40:11.635-04:00Returen to Barcelona 2017! Cooking Class
My friend Helena, from Switzerland came to Barcelona to stay with me for a few days and what fun we had! I arranged some tours, we visited important sites and we took a cooking class together at Cooking Barcelona on the Ramblas, near the Boqueria Market. This market literally dates back to the 13th century when farmers from nearby villages set up market stalls in the open air here.
I Rosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-5843706424650289732018-08-08T19:38:00.003-04:002018-08-08T19:38:42.189-04:00Return to Barcelona 2017! To Las Arenas
On this particular day I decided to walk along Gran Via, the sycamore-lined broad avenue with a pedestrian-only center, to Las Arenas, the former bullring now shopping center to go up to the roof for what I had been told was a beautiful view over the city. With so many fine buildings along the route there was plenty to keep me entertained as I strolled towards my destination. The weather Rosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-37257587214865589802018-05-14T15:21:00.000-04:002018-05-14T15:21:15.773-04:00Return to Barcelona 2017! Girona
I fell head over heels in love with this gorgeous city, that Trip Adviser states is "One of the most historic sites in Spain, Girona lies in northeast Catalonia, just 99 km (62 miles) from Barcelona. Founded by Romans, the city later was taken over by Moors and Franks before finally falling under the rule of Barcelona. Influenced by different cultures and religions, the city beckons visitors Rosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-23017460718787531972018-04-16T15:51:00.001-04:002018-04-16T15:54:30.117-04:00Return to Barcelona 2017! Figueres and Girona Bus Tour
I took another bus tour to Figueres, to the Dali Museum and to the charming town of Girona. I have to admit I've never been a huge fan of the work of Salvador Dali, but being so close to it, I felt it warranted a visit. It was just as crazy as I expected and the tour was fun for the most part (except for the baby who cried nearly the entire ride back to Barcelona) I found the town of Rosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-16423114295257829192018-04-16T12:06:00.001-04:002018-04-16T12:06:19.194-04:00Return to Barcelona 2017! La Merce with Urban Sketchers Barcelona
One evening of La Merce I met Urban Sketchers Barcelona to sketch at The Casa Amatller, and the adjacent Casa Batlló, designed by Antonio Gaudí, part of the "mansana de la discòrdia" or block of discord of Barcelona, so-named because it features buildings in sharply contrasting styles. We were invited to sketch at this historic location by the organizers of the festival and so we did, Rosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-3659191316772114842018-04-15T20:03:00.000-04:002018-04-15T20:03:06.501-04:00Return to Barcelona 2017! More of La Merce Festival
The Festival of La Merce took place over the course of a weekend, and I traveled all over the city to enjoy the festivities! Museums were open and free so I took advantage of that to visit the Maritime Museum with full size ships inside and plenty of room to spare! The Museu Marítim (Maritime Museum) is one of the most interesting sights in Barcelona. Housed in the former shipyards of Rosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-59985080652280628122018-04-15T13:32:00.000-04:002018-04-15T13:32:49.034-04:00Return to Barcelona 2017! Festival La Merce.
This festival had events going on all over the city! In the morning, after a cafe on my little terrace, I took a bus to Estacio de Franca train station for "Estacio Disseny" an arts and crafts fair. I had fun looking at all the goodies for sale and sketching the little car that is a sort of mascot for the beer "Moritz" and sampled their wares. They were also giving out free bottles of Rosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-46907824211087020042018-04-14T12:34:00.001-04:002018-04-14T12:34:43.767-04:00Return to Barcelona 2017. Medieval Villages Tour
Another tour I took was of three Medieval Villages in Catalunya, not far from Barcelona but only reachable by tour bus or car. Since I didn't have a car, I opted to join a tour that would stop at these 3 charming villages with lunch included and enjoyed this way of travel for a change.
I fell in love with Besalu immediately! The bridge and tower leading into the city, charming cafes, Rosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-29278062351688168742018-04-14T12:09:00.002-04:002018-04-14T12:34:53.198-04:00Return to Barcelona 2017! Around the City.
I loved having time to simply wander around the city. With a month in Barcelona this time (3 weeks last year) I was able to revisit my favorites and see the ones I missed last time. Returning to the same apartment I had last year in the Eixample neighborhood, also gave me the feeling of coming home. My surroundings were familiar and I knew my way around. Friends remembered me and welcomed Rosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-860554374171516683.post-46327915692798992662018-04-14T11:17:00.000-04:002018-04-14T12:35:03.214-04:00Return to Barcelona 2017! Montserrat and Winery Tour
I had arranged for a bus tour to Monsterrat and a Winery for September 18, 2017, prior to leaving home and I thoroughly enjoyed the day. It was nice to settle down on a comfy bus and watch the scenery go by. The mountain of Montserrat with the Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria de Montserrat is about 45 km northwest of Barcelona. The about 1,200-meter-high mountain is a magnificent sight Rosemaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01806053810163306948noreply@blogger.com0